Ryan Garcia
Last night Ryan Weathers had the first start of his career with the Yankees, striking out seven across 4.1 innings pitched while only allowing one run.
The lack of length in this start left something to be desired, but his swing-and-miss stuff and upper-90s fastball present some exciting upside you can dream on.
Seattle isn’t an easy offense to topple either, they were one of the best run-scoring groups in baseball last season especially after re-shuffling their offense at the trade deadline.
We saw the kind of outing that Ryan Weathers can build on to put together a very strong season, and I think there’s a real glimmer of hope that he could be an impact starter on a World Series contender.
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Ryan Weathers’ Debut With Yankees Can Be a First Step Towards An Excellent 2026
When evaluating Ryan Weathers’ profile, you can see why the Yankees were so high on him coming into the season as he flashed a strong four-pitch mix which he releases from a unique arm slot.
Not only does he release the ball from a low point off the ground, he also has a wide release point which seemed to mess with hitters throughout the night.
There were a lot of fastballs inside to righties that got swings and misses or called strikes, and he could climb the ladder well with that pitch due to the velocity and riding action it gets.
He also has some nasty secondary pitches such as his changeup which has tons of depth and his sweeper which he got a 50% Whiff% on during this start in Seattle.
When he executed his pitches the Mariners looked outmatched by Ryan Weathers’ high-octane velocity and nasty movement, but his command left something to be desired especially with his changeup and sinker.
These two pitches were left up far too often, and while the sinker up-and-in could work to some lefties, you’d want to keep these pitches in the lower quadrants of the zone for a variety of reasons.
Changeups and sinkers in this location are easier to fight off for foul balls or soft liners that get over the heads of infielders, if he can better locate these pitches we could see more efficient outings than last night.
What gets overlooked at times with Ryan Weathers is that when healthy he’s pretty good, since 2024 he’s made just 25 starts but he’s pitched to a 3.69 ERA with a 3.97 xFIP.
If he were to produce an ERA in the 3.70-3.90 range as a starter, I’d consider him a mid-rotation starter who could be wicked in a condensed role out of the bullpen.
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